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App Review: Strava

Happy National Running Day 2014! Join me in celebrating with a run today and read more at runningday.org. Today seems like the perfect day to tell you how I am currently tracking my miles…

Strava is my new favorite app (website) for logging my training and running. Before I got my Garmin watch I used Nike+, and I loved that Nike allowed me to track miles on shoes. I thought that I had written a blog post about how much I loved Nike+ but apparently I never did. Nike+ is awesome and what I would use if I didn’t have a Garmin. I miss it sometimes but I also love having a watch! I also tried Dailymile and Garmin Connect for tracking miles but I have complaints about both. Dailymile is not very user friendly and I could not figure out how to automatically load from my Garmin to Dailymile. I had to upload it manually from the website or mobile site. My biggest complaint about Garmin Connect is that there is not a place to track shoe mileage (I don’t think Dailymile has this feature either). Shoe mileage is one of the most important things for runners to know! These are just a few of the reasons that Nike+, Dailymile, and Garmin Connect were not right for me.

Which leads me to Strava…I learned about Strava because someone created a club for Athens Road Runners. Strava was created for athletes, and I definitely think it is more popular in the bike community, but it works great for runners. I am using Strava to do two important things for my training: track shoe mileage and track my miles and compare miles to friends (Evan) and groups (Athens Road Runners). Strava is very easy to use and upload data from my Garmin watch. There is also a Strava app that will let you track running or cycling from your phone.

Another exciting feature of the app is people can add “segments” and Strava knows if I run those segments based on GPS data. I ran at Salem Lake and it automatically added me to a leaderboard for a Strava segment, which I think is really cool! There are other features that are available with a premium account, but currently I am using the free version and it is doing everything I need it to.

So now the only thinking lacking about my new favorite run app is more people to connect with and follow their training. Please, join me on Strava and lets track our training together!